I have conflicted feelings about Governor Andrew Cuomo's budget speech.

As a rent-regulated tenant, I applaud his push to end vacancy decontrol and unjustified rent hikes. But he supports prevailing union wage rates on construction projects that will make new affordable housing more costly to build.

Empire City for Public Policy analyst Ken Girardin as recently quoted as saying New York's prevailing wage rate adds 25 percentto the cost of public construction in the city.

Cuomo wants to end donations to political candidates from corporations, but not unions. Why not ban donations from both special interests groups to create a level playing field?